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I have been living in Japan now for the last 3 months and my hair is starting to look like it needs a cut.
But I have never been to a Japanese barbers before so as you can imagine I am a little nervous about it.

I have a couple of questions about getting your hair cut in Japanese:

What are common/useful words/phrases that can be used when getting your haircut?

Specifically it would be nice to know how to say I want certain parts of my hair a certain length and I would like to ask if they can thin it out (because my hair is ridiculously thick).

Aside from those two specific things are there any other useful phrases, words or anything else that would be useful to learn before going to the barbers in Japan?

The second part is not about language. But it will depend on the barber. They will try to talk to you, it they can find something to talk about. Sometimes they also got nervous talking to a foreigner :) And the barber I went in Japan has picture book of various different hair styles. You can just pick one out. The barber would take appointment, but for the place I went it is OK to just walk in. They don't have that many customers there :)
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fefeJan 9 '12 at 13:51

@fefe Thank you for your comment! I will have to see what they do in the barbers around here but any information I can get to mentally prepare myself is always good :) I hated going to the barbers even in England.
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Chittomo WakaranJan 9 '12 at 15:18

@Louis Thanks for the information - I would certainly be surprised if that happened without me knowing about it beforehand.
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Chittomo WakaranJan 9 '12 at 15:18

From experience you're better off just taking a picture of someone with the hairstyle you want. Most salons have such catalogues to browse while you wait, so the only japanese you really need is 'this' :)
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SLCJan 9 '12 at 16:46

1 Answer
1

Thin it out. すいてください。
Thin out this part. このあたりを、すいてください。
I want this part this long. ここを、このくらいの[長]{なが}さにしてください。
Keep the front. [前]{まえ}[髪]{がみ}を[残]{のこ}してください。
Take about 1 centimeter off my bangs. [前]{まえ}[髪]{がみ}を1センチくらい[切]{き}ってください。
Shorten it in back by about 5 centimeters. [後]{うし}ろを5センチくらい[切]{き}ってください。
Trim a little more. もう[少]{すこ}し[切]{き}ってください。
Trim this part a little more. このあたりを、もう[少]{すこ}し[切]{き}ってください。
Can you make it look like this photo? この[写]{しゃ}[真]{しん}のようにしてください。/こんなふうにしてください。
Can I make an appointment for a haircut. カットの[予]{よ}[約]{やく}をしたいのですが。
How much is it for just a simple cut? カットはいくらですか。
How much is it for a cut and shampooing? カットとシャンプーだといくらですか。
How long will it take? どのくらいかかりますか。

@dbassett Your assumption is wrong. The すく here is the transitive verb 梳く, not the intransitive verb 空く. They have different accents. 梳く is "SUku" (high low) whereas 空く is "suKU" (low hight). If you hadn't known this verb, then you shouldn't argue about it.
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user458Jan 9 '12 at 18:58

@Chocolate It is not a slang, it is ordinary Japanese ... according to our ordinary minds speaking normal Japanese. dbassett seems to be a super-genious who has a different mind, speaking some kind of a super-Japanese that we cannot comprehend.
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user458Jan 9 '12 at 23:20